TJ will tighten its belt for the next school year.
Artwork by Mia Nogueira
For the 2011-2012 school year, TJ will be making significant budget cuts in multiple departments, including administration and social studies. “The budget cuts will include many areas, and everyone will be affected,” said Principal Sandra Just.
Losses TJ will experience next year will mostly be seen in teacher reductions. At the moment, the planned cuts will be made as follows: Half of a librarian’s job, half of an administrative assistant’s job, half of a mild/moderate special education teacher’s job, half of a Spanish teacher’s job, one disability activist teacher, one social studies teacher, one pass room para professional, and one counseling office support secretary.
According to Just, these cuts are expected to have a severe impact on the TJ community. “We’ll have to have teachers perform extra duties during the day,” said Just. “This will include teachers as supervision hours in the library. Any time you lose people, there will be a burden on others to make up for the lost time.”
This burden will be not only on teachers, but also on TJ students. “In terms of having supervision, we need student assistance to make sure services are done well,” said Just. “Depending on the task, student involvement will certainly help with the budget-related losses TJ will experience next semester.”
Despite the present plans to make severe cuts, Just and the TJ administration are making attempts to gain extra funding to prevent some of the losses. “We’ve tried to request financial assistance from the district to gain back some spots that we’re going to lose,” said Just. “If our enrollment is more than projected, we will have access to more money. Also, if legislation changes, we may get certain positions returned. But everyone needs to remember not to expect that. Some districts may be continuing to cut throughout the spring.”
The primary reason for the numerous budget cuts being made to DPS can be traced back to state legislation and national funding. “And it goes up beyond DPS; it’s all a result of how much money the state government is giving to education,” stated Just. “Really, the only money we have is the money the government gives us to spend. That’s where we get the bulk of our funding. All anyone needs to do is look in the newspaper. Hickenlooper is proposing cuts of 34 million from the budget in all grades K-12.”
Although higher enrollment may lead to a bigger budget, larger classes are expected for next year. “There will be some possible class-size shifts,” said Just.
While Just recognizes that the budget cuts will have a significant impact on TJ, she continues to expect the same quality of education from the school community next semester. “As a community, we have to understand that these budget cuts are a very big deal,” said Just. “We still need to provide the best services to our school and to our community. This will take not only teamwork, but also us thinking about things differently.”
